Five Olympic gold medals up for grabs

11 Février, 2018, 18:34 | Auteur: Mathilde Kaplan

"I don't think our players are looking to be heroes to anybody as of right now", Granato said.

He wasn't the only one who noticed the similarity. "When (Schuler) stuck her hand out to tell me I was an Olympian, it was a feeling of joy and a feeling of relief. It's a respectful rivalry and it gets better all the time".

For head coach Robb Stauber, the puck can't drop soon enough.

An OAR participant who wins a gold medal will hear the Olympic anthem played instead of the Russian one.

The Canadian team gathered in Calgary in mid-August and played a challenging series of games against midget AAA boys' teams, going 13-5-4, then beat the U.S. five times in a six-game series leading up to the Olympics. He's a good player, and he can put the puck in the net. "We can see it".

The Canadian team features Andrew Ebbett, a former Duck, and Christian Thomas, son of former Duck Steve Thomas, the hero of 2003. Greenway told CNN before traveling to this year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This isn't just about today or competing in this event, it's all the work these people put into getting here. "When the Americans go to a tournament now, we expect to do well and win and compete for a medal".

When 15 months of meetings failed to budge USA Hockey, the players realized they had to take a major step. One might automatically think that Team Canada could be in a lot of trouble, and not able to win Olympic gold for the third consecutive time in men's action. "Californians like to stay laid back and more easygoing, so I try to bring that to the room".

Sullivan taught her sons to be open-minded and to not see stereotypes.

Gilroy was a free agent signee with the Rangers in 2009 out of college. They have also beaten Sweden 75 times, Finland 72 times.

They were some of the best phone calls that Jim Johannson ever got to make.

At 37, he's one of the team's elder statesmen and has the wisdom and perspective that comes with experience.

"These other countries have definitely come a long way", said Agosta.

Late last year, Greenway got word he'd been chosen for Team USA. The forwards, who were chosen from a tryout roster of 28 players, are the first Nova Scotians to ever make the Olympic women's hockey squad. Twenty years later, the two nations still take their role as sport leaders very seriously, on and off the ice. "2", as they head into their Olympic opener against the Russian team on Sunday (watch live on olympics.cbc.ca and the CBC Olympics app at 7:10 a.m. ET).

She was encouraged by the fact that at the recent under-18 women's worlds, the U.S. beat Sweden for gold and Canada edged Russia for bronze. The league and the International Olympic Committee blamed each other for not coming up with a deal to allow NHL players to compete for a sixth straight Olympics.

The same goes for the team as a whole, which has also brought in motivational speakers and held one bonding event each day, trying to ensure a group of players who have received an unexpected opportunity to play in the Olympics makes the most of it. More European women are playing NCAA hockey in the United States, as well. They have worked hard to correct some of the offensive deficiencies that plagued the team during the pre-Olympic tour.